← Halftime Report
Halftime Report
New Highs in Sight 5/13/25
00:49:59
Scott Wapner and the Investment Committee debate the next leg higher for stocks as new highs are in sight for the S&P. Plus, UnitedHealth hitting a new 52-week low, it’s our Chart of the Day. And later, Josh Brown shares a new stock addition to his best stock in the market group. Investment Committee Disclosures
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- [00:00]
Fidelity Representative
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- [00:10]
Scott Wapner
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Fidelity Representative
That's music to my ears. I can only talk.
- [00:17]
Scott Wapner
Investing involves risk.
- [00:18]
Fidelity Representative
Including risk of loss. Zero account fees apply to retail brokerage.
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Scott Wapner
Accounts only $0 commission applies to online.
- [00:21]
Eamon Javers
US equity trades and ETFs and retail fidelity accounts.
- [00:23]
Scott Wapner
Sell order assessment fee not included.
- [00:24]
Fidelity Representative
Some account types and securities excluded. Details@fidelity.com commissions Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member NYSE SIPC Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99 of places that take credit cards nationwide and every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nelson report.
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Eamon Javers
I'm Scott Wapner, and you're listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the podcast the most profitable hour of the trading day. We record this live weekdays at 12 Eastern. Listen in.
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President
You're listening to Halftime Report in progress makes them even greater, you know that. But in a few short months since taking office, we have achieved the swift return of American strength at home and abroad. Now, working with the vast majority of people in this region who seek stability and calm, our task is to unify against the few agents of chaos and terror that are left and that are holding hostage the dreams of millions and millions of great people. The biggest and most destructive of these forces is the regime in Iran, which has caused unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond. There could be no sharper contrast with the path you have pursued on the Arabian Peninsula than the disaster unfolding right across in the Gulf of Iran. Think of that. They wanted to name it that. I said they're not going to let them do that. Do you mind if I stop that? I stopped it. We're not going to let that happen. While you have been constructing the world's tallest skyscrapers in Jeddah and Dubai, Tehran's 1979 landmarks are collapsing into rubble and dust. They had it going for a little while under a much different system, but those buildings are largely falling apart, falling down while you're building some of the world's biggest and most incredible infrastructure projects. Buildings, all sorts of things you're building that nobody has ever even seen before. Iran's decades of neglect and mismanagement have left the country plagued by rolling blackouts lasting for hours a day. All the time, you hear about it. While your skill has turned dry deserts into fertile farmland, Iran's leaders have managed to turn green farmland into dry deserts as they're corrupt. Water mafia, it's called it. The water mafia causes droughts and empty riverbeds. They get rich, but they don't let the people have any of it. And then, of course, there's the key difference at the root of it all. While the Arab states are focused on becoming pillars of regional stability and world commerce, Iran's leaders have focused on stealing their people's wealth to fund terror and bloodshed iron abroad. Most tragic of all, they have dragged down an entire region with them. Countless lives were lost in the Iranian effort to maintain a crumbling regime in Syria. Look at what happened with Syria. In Lebanon, their Hezbollah proxies have pillaged the hopes of a nation whose capital, Beirut, was once called the Paris. The Middle East. Can you imagine? All of this misery and so much more was entirely avoidable, Absolutely avoidable. And Mohammed knew that. He knew that. Smart people knew that. If only the Iranian regime had focused on building their nation up instead of tearing the region down. Yet I'm here today not merely to condemn the past chaos of Iran's leaders, but but to offer them a new path and a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future. As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be very profound, which obviously they are. In the case of Iran. I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don't like permanent enemies. But sometimes you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated. In fact, some of the closest friends of the United States of America are nations we fought wars against in generations past. And now they're our friends and our allies. I want to make a deal with Iran. If I can make a deal with Iran, I'll be very happy if we're going to make your region and the world's a safer place. But if Iran's leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero like I did before. If you know that they were a virtually bankrupt country because of what I did. They had no money for terror. They had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah and take all action required to stop the regime from ever having a nuclear weapon. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. But with that said, Iran can have a much brighter future, but will never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack. The choice is theirs to make. We really want them to be a successful country. We want them to be a wonderful, safe, great country. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon. This is an offer that will not last forever. The time is right now for them to choose right now. We don't have a lot of time to wait. Things are happening at a very fast pace. They're happening right here. They're happening at a very fast pace. So they have to make their move right now, one way or the other. Make your move. As I said in my inaugural address, my greatest hope is to be a peacemaker and to be a unifier. I don't like war. We have the greatest military, by the way, in the history of the world. You know, I rebuilt our military in my first four years and rebuilt it into the most powerful military there is. And you saw that. When I knocked out ISIS in three weeks, people said it would take four years, five years. I did it. We did it in three weeks. Just days ago, my administration successfully brokered a historic ceasefire to stop the escalating violence between India and Pakistan. And I used trade to a large extent to do it. I said, fellas, come on, let's make a deal. Let's do some trading. Let's not trade nuclear missiles. Let's trade the things that you make so beautifully. And they both have very powerful leaders, very strong leaders, good leaders, smart leaders. And it all stopped. Hopefully it'll remain that way, but it all stopped. I was very proud of Marco Rubio and all of the people that worked so hard. Marco, stand up. What a great job you did on that. Thank you. Jd, Vance, Marco, the whole group worked with you, but there was a great, great job. And I think they're actually getting along. Maybe we can even get them together a little bit, Marco, where they go out and have a nice dinner together. Wouldn't that be nice? But we've come a long way and that's could be, you know, millions of people could have died from that conflict that started off small and was getting bigger and bigger and bigger by the day. I've also been working relentlessly to end the terrible bloodshed between Russia and Ukraine. And very importantly, talks are being held in Turkey later this week, probably on Thursday. And they could produce some pretty good results. Our people are going to be going there. Marco is going to be going there. Others are going to be going. And we'll see if we can get it done. 5,000 people, young people, for the most part, soldiers from Ukraine, soldiers from Russia. They're not from here and they're not from the United States. But their souls, their souls. I think usually mostly they're young, beautiful souls that left their parents waving goodbye, left their brothers and sisters goodbye, I'll see you soon. And they got blown to pieces. 5,000 on average a week are dying. And people are dying elsewhere in the region. But tremendous numbers like we haven't seen since World War II are dying. And I want to stop it. I want to stop it. It's a horrible war. Would have never happened if I were president. That's a war that would have never happened. October 7th would have never happened if I were president. Because Iran had no money to pay Hamas or anybody else. They had no money. They were not looking to take care of them. They had to take care of themselves. They had no money. We stopped their oil effectively with the embargoes and sanctions. But let me take this opportunity to thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the constructive role that you've played in facilitating the Ukraine talks. And it really is. You've been amazing. You've made everything available to us. Thank you very much. Thank you. And if we get that settled, we'll pay a special tribute to what you've done. You really did lay a great groundwork. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. The west should not be dragging itself backward into another endless war in Europe. Yet another endless war. We should stop the killing and work together to address the biggest long term threats as one unbeatable team. Think of us as an unbeatable team. I mean, when you look at what you've done here, that's much more difficult than stopping stupidity. Think of it. It's stupidity. What you've done is much more difficult. And you did it better than anybody else has ever done it. As President of the United States, my preference will always be for peace and partnership, whenever those outcomes can be achieved. Always. It's always going to be that way. Only a fool would think otherwise. In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it's our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins. They loved using our very powerful military and now it's really the most powerful it's ever been. We just are getting a budget approved $1 trillion, highest budget we've ever had in history for military. $1 trillion. And we're getting the greatest missiles, the greatest weapons. And, you know, I hate. I hate to do it, but you have to do it because we believe in peace through strength. You have to have the strength, otherwise bad things could happen. But hopefully we'll never have to use any of those weapons. Seems to be an awfully big waste of money if you're never going to use them. But hopefully we'll never have to use them, because the destructive power of some of those weapons are like nobody's seen before. I believe it is God's job to sit in judgment. My job to defend America and to promote the fundamental interest of stability, prosperity, and peace. That's what I really want to do. I will never hesitate to wield American power if it's necessary to defend the United States or to help defend our allies. And there will be no mercy for any foe who tries to do us or them harm. We will have no mercy. They understand that. That's why I've been pretty lucky. A lot of people think, you know, he's looking to fight, he's looking to fight, and things get settled. It's an amazing thing when they really think you mean it, but we do. We have the greatest military, the strongest military, stronger than any. Nobody's even close. We have the best weapons in the world, but we don't want to use them. If you threaten America or our partners, however, then you'll be faced with overwhelming strength and devastating force. We have things that you don't even know about, you don't hear about. And if you did, you'd say, wow. In recent weeks, following repeated attacks on American ships and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, the United States military launched more than 1,100 strikes on the Houthis in Yemen. As a result, the Houthis agreed to stop. They said, we don't want this anymore. It's the first time you've heard that from them, too. They're tough. They're fighters. But just days ago, we were asked to cease targeting commercial. They were not going to be targeting commercial ships in any way, shape, or form or anything American. And they were very happy that we stopped, but we had 50. And they were very happy that we stopped, but we had 52 days of thunder and lightning like they've never seen before. This was a swift, ferocious, decisive, and extremely successful use of military force. Not that we wanted to do it, but they were shooting down ships. They were shooting at you. That were shooting at Saudi Arabia. We don't want them shooting at Saudi Arabia, if that's okay. So we hit them hard. We got what we came for, and then we got out. Since January 20th, the US military has terminated 83 terrorist leaders operating across Iraq, Syria and Somalia, including ISIS's number two global leader. You read about that just recently. With the help of Pakistan, we apprehended the ISIS terrorists responsible for the attack on 13American service members that abygate that horrible, horrible disaster during the. During this Afghanistan withdrawal. You know, that's another thing that we don't even think about so much anymore. 13 died, but 42 were horribly wounded. But hundreds of people died overall because I count the people on the other side who hundreds of people just grossly incompetent. It's probably why Putin decided to go into Ukraine, something he never would have done if I were president. But we wouldn't have had the problems of October 7th if I were president. We wouldn't have had Ukraine, Russia. If I were president, we wouldn't have had abigate because there wouldn't have been any reason we were getting out, but we were getting out with dignity and with strength and power. But the way they got out was not good. I think it was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. And we've been working tirelessly to bring back all hostages held by Hamas. We brought back a lot already, but we're bringing back more. This weekend we successfully negotiated the release of the last American hostage. Edan Alexander just came out a few hours ago. And we continue to work to get that war ended as quickly as possible. It's a horrible thing that's taking place. All civilized people must condemn the October 7th atrocities against Israel, which would never have happened again if you had probably a different president, but definitely if you had me as president. The people of Gaza deserve a much better future. But that will. But that will or can not occur occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture and target innocent men, women and children for political ends. The way those people are treated in Gaza, there's not a place in the world where people are treated so badly. It's horrible. After years of suffering, two of the nations most ravaged by terror are finally beginning to end their long nightmares under the new generation of leaders. In Lebanon, where a friend of mine has just become the ambassador, he's going to be great. I said, you know, that could be a very dangerous job. He said, I was born there, I'm Lebanese. I love that country. I said, but it's very dangerous. You know, this is a friend of mine from New York. I said, but it's very dangerous. Are you sure you want to do it? I never thought of him as being a warrior, but he is a warrior. He loves his country. He said, if I'm injured or die, I'm dying for a country that I love. He grew up there. It's horrible what's happened in Lebanon, but you have a great ambassador. I can tell you that. In Lebanon, which has been endlessly victimized by Hezbollah and their sponsor, Iran, a new president and prime minister have brought the first real chance in decades for a more productive partnership with the United States. And we're going to work with their new ambassador and everybody else, Marco, and we're going to see if we can really help them out and let them get over that very high grid that they're going to have to get over. My administration stands ready to help Lebanon create a future of economic development and peace with its neighbors. They have tremendous people in Lebanon. Doctors, lawyers, great professional people. I hear it so many times. Likewise, in Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace. That's what we want to see in Syria. They've had their share of travesty, war killing many years. That's why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade. And I'm very pleased to announce that Secretary Marco Rubio will be meeting with the new Syrian foreign minister in Turkey later this week. And very importantly, after discussing the situation in Syria with the Crown Prince, your Crown Prince, and also with President Erdogan of Turkey, who called me the other day and asked for a very similar thing, among others and friends of mine, people that I have a lot of respect for in the Middle East, I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness. It. Oh, what I do. For the crown Prince, the sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important, really an important function nevertheless at the time. But now it's their time to shine. It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off and they're going to have, I think they're going to have, based on the people and the spirit and everything else that I'm hearing about. So I say, good luck, Syria. Show us something very special like they've done, frankly, in Saudi Arabia. Okay? They're going to show something special. Very good people. Everywhere we can. My administration is pursuing peaceful engagement, offering a strong and steady hand of friendship to all that will take it in good faith. Together we have made unprecedented strides and tremendous progress. And we're still just at the dawn of the bright new day that awaits for the people of the Middle East. The great, great people of the Middle East. If the responsible nations of this region seize this moment, put aside your differences and focus on the interests that unite you, then all of humanity will soon be amazed at what they will see right here in this geographic center of the world. It really is. It's like a center of the world and the spiritual heart of its greatest faiths. For the first time in a thousand years, the world will look at this region not as a place of turmoil and strife and war and death, but as a land of opportunity and hope, just like you've done right here. A cultural and commercial crossroads of the planet, security and stability will lift millions into lives of safety and success. And the nations of this region will be free to realize your highest destinies, honor your proud histories, harness amazing new opportunities, and bring incredible glory to Almighty God. People will come from all over the globe to be inspired by the cities you build, the businesses you create, the technologies you invent, and the beauty, talent and potential you unleash right in the hearts of your citizens. Each of you will be able to take tremendous pride in the legacy you will leave to your children because you will have given them the ultimate blessings of prosperity and peace so important in the United States. We've launched the golden age of America. It's the golden age. We see it. We see it with all that money, trillions and trillions dollars pouring in, hundreds of thousands of jobs coming in with it. And with the help of the people of the Middle east and the people in this room, partners throughout the region, the golden age of the Middle east can proceed right alongside of us. We will work together. We will be together. We will succeed together. We will win together. And we will always be friends. Thank you. So, Mohammed, I want to thank you again very much for having me. And as a representative of what I think is the greatest nation in the world, we are with you all the way. And you have a tremendous future. Thank you very much. And please pay my respects to your father. Thank you very much. Much thank you.
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Eamon Javers
That, of course, the president speaking at the Saudi US Investment Forum in Riyadh. The President touting what he sees as the achievements of his own administration in the short time that they have been in office a good dose of geopolitics as well, from the sanctions that he says he is lifting on Syria, the war in Ukraine, and of course, a good bit on Iran as well. Our Eamon Javers is in Washington who's been listening and watching all of this. Really an extraordinary set of hours here from the CEOs of the great American companies who are there to the pageantry amen that has welcomed the US President in his first official overseas visit of his second term to what we just listened to on our television screens.
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Scott Wapner
Scott, it really is an incredible display, display of wealth and power in Saudi Arabia as the president of the United States lands flanked with business executives of enormous influence themselves from the United States. And then the news that we just got there of the president announcing the cessation of sanctions against the new Syrian government. Remember, the insurgency in Syria pushed out the Assad regime and now has taken power. The president says he wants to give them a clean slate and an opportunity to show what they can do. And a remarkable turnaround there, Scott, for the new leader of Saudi of Syria, the former insurgent leader there. His name is Ahmed Al Shara, and he was a member of Al Qaeda in Iraq during the US Invasion, fought in the Iraqi insurgency and was imprisoned by the US Military for several years during that period of time. Now he is the leader of Syria and a former rebel commander, and he has been given a waiver of sanctions by the president of the United States and an opening, a diplomatic opening from the president of the United States for the new Syrian government to join the family of nations. The president says let's see what they can do. So this is a president who says he's willing to turn over a new leaf here with a lot of the countries in the region and holding out a contrast between the towers and the gleaming sights that you see in Saudi Arabia and the crumbling infrastructure of Iran and holding out a similar olive branch, if you will, to the Iranian regime, suggesting that if they join the family of nations as well, that kind of prosperity could be coming their way in addition. So this is a president who's holding out prosperity and cooperation as his goal. He says he wants peace and he says he's willing to do business with regimes that have been formally at odds with the United States and demonstrating that with this reversal of sanctions on Syria.
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Eamon Javers
Yeah, pretty extraordinary events. Eamon, thank you. Eamon Javers wrapping that up for us in Washington. Welcome, everybody, of course, to the halftime report where we have the S and P once again on the move on the move higher and closing in on a new record high. We're not that far away, in fact, for a new record high for the S and P, we're just shy of 5,900. What a remarkable turn of events, Steve, that it's been. And taking this next leg higher, as we did on the events of the weekend, I'm really curious to get your point of view for somebody who's been overwhelmingly negative on this market. You've had a number of people come out today and say their recession projections are far less than they were just last week. Are your own?
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Josh Brown
They are. But let's keep in mind what I've said consistently over the last couple of weeks. Short term, I'm bullish on the market. My exposure reflects that. Since I have virtually no cash, it's the intermediate term that I was concerned with and that's where the recession comes into play. So. So you do have to modify your forecast if you look for recession, as I have been. And again, it's not getting to the recession, it's the journey there of a declining economy.
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Eamon Javers
You don't think that that trajectory has been significantly altered as a result of what happened on the weekend? How could it not?
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Josh Brown
I do, I do. I absolutely do. So, which is why, you know, I'll hold hold on to this exposure for a while. Look, we're back to a situation where the market is, is, I would say, testing valuation limits. It's pulling forward what you're going to see in the tax cuts. So you'll see capex spending and look, let's face it, was a major surrender by the administration, you know, after going to, you know, ridiculous tariff levels and coming back to basically where we were with China and with the uk and I would expect to see them giving up, you know, the ghost again on the other deals that we see. So you do still have this temporary pause in capex spending that's going to impact the second quarter. But I do think that at this point you're likely to look through it. Inflation will spike because tariffs are there, but I think you're likely to look through that too. So what I've done is, as I mentioned, I did put on the indices more QQQ than vo, which is the S and P going back into some of the old favorites, because I know them. So when you're looking to put exposure on quickly, you go to what you know, where you've done the fundamental analysis and where you've been comfortable with it. And look, just as an investor, you can get stuck In a position and a viewpoint. So, so I'm pretty much fully invested.
- [30:06]
Eamon Javers
You know, Josh, Ed Yardeni raises his S and P year end target. He was at 6,000. Remember he had taken it down and maybe he did so a couple of different times. The goalpost though seemed to have changed for many, including him. 6500 is where his target is now. I said we're pushing 5,900. It seems as though there is a decidedly different level of optimism today than last week. Offense takes the field is what Piper Sandler today says. Wells Fargo says ceilings now become floors. Expect dips to be bought.
- [30:46]
Jim Cramer
I mean, is that, is that, how is any of that helpful? They're just marking to market. Like the stock market crashes and they all cut their targets. Then there is like talk of a detente or another 90 day extension and they raise their targets back like that. Oh, we're going to go from 140% tariffs to 30%. Oh well then I take off my recession for kip. I mean like anyone, anyone can really do that. So I, I try not to get bullish because the strategist raised their targets or get bearish. They're doing their job. They're marking to market based on what everyone already knows. And I get it. It's just not particularly helpful. The number one thing. And the number one thing be helpful. Well, I'll be helpful. I'll be helpful. The number one thing and the number two thing number one is the inflation fight. We're winning. You got CPI came in at 2.3% year over year. The expectation was 2.4. Doesn't sound like much, but can you imagine how much of this rally we would have reversed on a 2.6 print? Like it would have been gross. Now I'm aware, and Weiss is probably dying to say this, so I'll just say it. I'm aware this may be the final tame CPI report before the effect of the tariffs so far. And we'll get that report about a month from now.
- [32:12]
President
Today.
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Jim Cramer
I get it. Understand. But still, this is the lowest year over year inflation rate according to CPI since February of 2021. That's important thing number one. Important thing number two, 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 are now in with their actual Q1 results. And let me tell you something, 78% of them beat earnings. This was a very, very, very good quarter considering all the stuff that's been thrown at us. That is above the 5 year average of 77% and above the 10 year average of 75%. So just an exceptional showing from the 500 best companies in America. When you look at the 90% that have reported and the 10% still to report with expectations, you get a year over year Q1 earnings growth of 13.4% almost fully in the books. It's the seventh straight positive year over year, quarterly earnings report season. And I have to tell you, if you have CPI falling and earnings continuously surprising to the upside, almost every sector that's more important than somebody saying, you know what, I was thinking 5200, now I'm at 5400. I just don't know how that helps anybody. What I'm saying is helpful.
- [33:33]
Eamon Javers
Okay, Amy, it's not really about the targets at all. That's not the reason that we bring up what strategists are doing or what they're, what they're saying or what they're thinking. It's about the overall tone. It's representative of how the tone in this market has changed and it's changed dramatically from Friday to today. Here we are just Tuesday and we're 4% away from a new all time high on the s and P500. That's the point that I'm trying to make. No other.
- [34:00]
Fidelity Representative
Yeah, no, I agree with that. Certainly there's a lot of optimism coming back to the market. It was just unambiguously good news that we have a new deal and a 90 day detente. The two things that I'm really looking at for this market are how much, how much did the tariff war, trade war, pull forward economic activity and how much does that have to still seep through into earnings? As Josh said, Q1 earnings were very, very good now and we have a little bit of, we have like a six week window until we start focusing on Q2, but people might start getting nervous about Q2 depending on what the level of tariff pull forward was. And we really don't know that. Companies don't know that. And then we have the tax bill and that's going to be a fine line. I think people are optimistic about it, but it can't be too stimulative that it impacts yields negatively. And it has to be stimulative enough that we get the economic benefits that people want from it. So it's a fine line with that tax bill. And those are the two things that I'm really watching to see how the rest of the year sort of unfolds.
- [35:03]
Eamon Javers
I feel like, Jim, the whole idea, the pull forward was viewed as a potential negative last week, but now it can be, I think almost written off as understandable and excusable that okay, there was a moment of dense fog and a lot of demand was pulled forward, whether it was orders from companies, whether it was purchases from consumers. And now if there's a momentary correcting phase in all of that because the environment is viewed as more positive, so be it. I think people will look through it.
- [35:35]
Scott Wapner
I agree with Amy's premise and your conclusion. I agree there probably is some pull forward over the last several months and I don't think it's going to matter. Scott. And I don't think that the economic slowdown that may be the result of damage done over the past few months is going to matter either as long as trade deals continue to come in. Steve, you know you and I have spoken enough times. I think I know your position that they are paper at best. I will say that the market's going to key off of them and more importantly corporations are going to key off of them. So far corporations have not laid people off off. We see that in the weekly jobless claims. That's the thing that I fear the Most is that CEOs who have been on hold so far start to pull back, start to lay people off. They're not going to do that if profits remain good, which they have, as Josh said in the first quarter. Amy, you're right, they may come down in the second quarter. But I think the markets and CEOs are looking forward into 2026 when right now you're projecting 14% earnings per share growth.
- [36:28]
Eamon Javers
Big story in the market today remains the NASDAQ stack which seems to be at the epicenter of the better feeling within the market. Tech, chips, software. The Nasdaq today is up 1 1/2 percent. It's back above 19K. It's just about 6% off of its all time high. And Christina parts nevolous is with us here because Nvidia has been in the news over the last 24 hours. Not only Christina, do you have Jensen Huang over in Riyadh as well? And he was singled out by the president as well as he also gave the president did what a little bit of a dig I think on the fact that Tim Cook wasn't there noting that very publicly as part of his remarks. But it's also this access that Nvidia was granted by the US that I think has more to do with the stocks move today. But you know the space better than most. Tell us.
- [37:25]
Scott Wapner
It's also interesting that Jensen, the CEO of Nvidia Wasn't at inauguration day because he was too busy, but did unveil a new partnership today. And that's adding to the share price climbing higher with Saudi Arabia to build a massive 500 megawatt data center with Humane, which is the kingdom's new AI venture. Several hundred thousand of Nvidia's most advanced GPUs over the next five years are going to be going to to Saudi Arabia. So that is a big change. Jensen pointing directly to Blackwell racks on stage. You can see him there. He's just underneath the banner. It's Nvidia's most advanced chips and really marks a significant policy change from Washington. So until now companies like Nvidia and AMD needed special U.S. licenses to export advanced semiconductors to many Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. And why? Because there were security concerns over the Middle east close relationships with Beijing. China is Saudi Arabia's largest trading partner. AMD though to just you can see the share price almost 4% higher. They're announcing their own landmark agreement with Humane to invest up to $10 billion. That would be Saudi Arabia investing in amd to get 500 megawatts of AI compute capacity over five years. So very similar to Nvidia. And I can also confirm the US is allowing the uae, the United Arab Emirates to purchase advanced Nvidia chips. We should get some news possibly in the coming days on this deal. But for Nvidia overall this really opens up vast new markets across the Middle east signaling not only a new chapter in both US export policy which we're seeing is changing now, but also just showing how this infrastructure race especially within the sovereign wealth funds are raised, are advancing.
- [39:01]
Eamon Javers
Scott, Christina, thank you. We'll watch those shares. Look at that. That's a gain of some 6% for shares of Nvidia. Other big names, big stocks on the move today. Amazon. It's on pace for its first five day rally since early December. Something to keep an eye on there. Google said to be developing a software AI agent, a Pinterest like feature that according to the information there's the stock in lease on Amazon. So Google trying to really counter this developing narrative about where its role in AI is is going to be. We're going to take a quick break. We have many stocks on the move that we still need to trade today. Unh is a huge story of the day. Weiss zones that we get. His take. Disney's on the move. Uber, Netflix, Coinbase and Toast. And a new name on Josh Brown's best stocks in the market. We'll do all that coming up.
- [39:52]
President
With.
- [39:52]
Fidelity Representative
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- [41:38]
Eamon Javers
We're going to begin today with our chart of the day. It's UnitedHealth, the biggest drag on the S and P. A huge weight on the Dow today. The market picture there would look far different if not for this stock. The CEO is going to step down for personal reasons. They suspended their outlook as well. The stock's down 15% new 52 week low. It's down 46% in a month. Weiss, what were you thinking?
- [42:01]
Josh Brown
I wasn't thinking it was going to go down when I bought it. Look, it's. Thank God it's not a core position at this point. I don't care what that but but here's what I tell you. Look, I know Steve Hemsley. He did a great job as CEO. He's been chairman. He's still been very, very involved. I think the right move is to bring him back and, and I think he right the ship. Now, I've been looking at, to add today. I haven't done that because I learned my lesson when I had it last time.
- [42:31]
Eamon Javers
Right. Because there was, there was that day, what was it? Post earnings where it got just absolutely destroyed.
- [42:37]
Josh Brown
Yeah.
- [42:37]
Eamon Javers
And you added then.
- [42:39]
Josh Brown
I did.
- [42:39]
Eamon Javers
Why aren't you selling it here? I mean, what's the. What's your strategy to hold on to a name that's gotten just crushed?
- [42:44]
Josh Brown
It's still the world's largest insurance company. And I've got tremendous respect for Hemsley. We've got tremendous respect for John Rex, who's the president slash cfo. And look, it's when you're the biggest, you're taking on business that perhaps you shouldn't take. Like some of the Humana business that they took and maybe didn't underwrite it correctly. So. So they'll get through it. To think they can't, I think is ridiculous. At the PE that's trading at which is a PE level and of course you don't know they suspended guidance, but they will go back to growth next year. And so it's dead money here for sure for a while.
- [43:20]
Eamon Javers
But you're holding it. You're just going to hold it?
- [43:21]
Josh Brown
I'm holding the rest that I have.
- [43:23]
Eamon Javers
Okay.
- [43:24]
Fidelity Representative
All right.
- [43:24]
Eamon Javers
I want to move on Disney. Six, six days in a row, this stock's tracking for. What do you. What do you think, Jim? Amy, you own it too. What do you guys think?
- [43:32]
Scott Wapner
I think there's a few things here. One, the earnings report, I think that was last week showed that the experiences, the theme parks, the cruises in particular are hanging in there. And that was a big question with all the sentiment surveys about consumers. Now you've got over the past few days the easing of trade tensions, the lowering, as we were discussing earlier, of recession probabilities, which puts more fuel to that fire, that the consumer is going to be good in the long term and continue to go to Disneyland, Disney World, go on the cruises. On top of that. The part that I actually like the most is the growth engine going forward is going to be streaming now. It's got a lot of lifting to do to take over from the decline in linear, but I think it's up to the task.
- [44:10]
Fidelity Representative
Yeah, we actually sold it, so I. And I should have known it was a bad sale when my 10 year old told me he wanted to be a theme park enthusiast when he grows up. So I, you know, look, I love this company. I thought the stock was going to have a hard time during the trade tensions. I still think that might play out, but definitely better than expected. Quarter, more resilience than I expected. So it was a bad sale.
- [44:33]
Eamon Javers
Okay. Coming up, we're going to do that new stock on Josh Brown's best stocks in the market. We do have a new move from him as well. But first we get the headlines with Pippa Stevens. Hi, Pippa.
- [44:43]
Fidelity Representative
Hey, Scott. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today he would place a hold on all of President Trump's Justice Department nominees. He says he won't advance any candidates until he gets answers on the president's possible acceptance of a luxury jet from Qatar that would be used as Air Force One. The attorney general signed off on the the gift. Schumer can't actually block the nominees, but he can slow down their consideration. A two day hearing is set to begin today that could decide whether Eric and Lyle Menendez could get out of prison. The brothers have been behind bars for more than 30 years for the 1989 murders of their parents. They are waiting for a judge to weigh in on a prosecutor's recommendation to reduce their life sentences to 50 years to life, which would make them eligible for parole immediately. And Americans are finally getting relief in the egg aisle. The consumer price index for April showed egg prices were down last month nearly 13% for an average of $5.12 for a dozen Grade A eggs. Prices have skyrocketed as the US Deals with the bird flu outbreak. Halftime report will be right back. CNBC News Update is sponsored by Morgan Stanley, where old school hard work means bold new thinking. Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn more@discover.com credit card based on the February 2024 Nelson Report.
- [46:32]
President
Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with.
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Eamon Javers
A message for everyone paying big wireless way too much.
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Fidelity Representative
Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop with Mint.
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President
You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month.
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Fidelity Representative
Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments.
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Eamon Javers
But that's weird. Okay, one judgment anyway.
- [46:50]
Scott Wapner
Give it a try.
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Fidelity Representative
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- [47:16]
Eamon Javers
All right, we're back. A new best stock on Josh Brown's radar. What is it?
- [47:24]
Jim Cramer
I want to shout out Carvana. So I'm not taking this trade, but this hit our list of the best stocks in the market and I think it's worth understanding what's happening here. We had a surprise uptick in the Mannheim index which tracks used car prices. It's probably not a great thing that that's now heading in the wrong direction. But be that as as it may, Carvana is probably the most obvious beneficiary of that. The stock's up 6% today. We wrote it up for the best stocks in the market list on CNBC Pro yesterday morning. They reported on May 7th they absolutely smashed their numbers. Revenue up 38%. Net net income was up 6x from 49 million to 373 million. Year over year, the stock's working in a major way. I know it's been controversial in the past, but it's on the list and we chose to write about it.
- [48:18]
Eamon Javers
All right, again, CNBC Pro. If you sign up, you can get access to Josh's group of the best stocks. So another stock up nicely today is toast. Last I saw was up 5%. We can see the current move here. Our story is that you bought more. Why?
- [48:35]
Jim Cramer
Yeah, so this is an average up. I've been involved in the stock for, for a while and I bought the name right before the numbers because I like when you see strength going into the numbers. And this thing was trading toward the high end of its range. Now obviously it's had an explosive move since I'm going to hold on to it. Record growth in Q1, 6,000 net new locations. They announced a huge enterprise deal with Hilton and the Applebee's chain to add on to what they're already doing for Marriott AR which is the only number that matters. Up 31% year over year to 1.7 billion. That's recurring revenue. They can build upon that. Gross payment volumes were up huge. Net income up huge 56 million versus a loss of 83 million last year. There were a lot of analysts who thought this company would never get to profitability. Now they're there and I think the stock looks great. So I'm not trading I'm sticking with my position.
- [49:34]
Eamon Javers
Okay, coming back with a move from Weiss and then I'll tell you about an ETF that today hit a fresh all time high. All right, welcome back. WTI on the move again. It's up 3%, 64 bucks. So crude's been moving higher way. So I got calls today on Chevron, EOG and Exxon. Chevron downgraded EOG price target cut. Exxon price target cut. You bought the xle?
- [50:00]
Josh Brown
I did.
- [50:01]
Eamon Javers
You plan for a move even higher from here?
- [50:03]
Josh Brown
Yes, I am. So I bought it on Friday and the reason I bought it was number one, stocks have been depressed because obviously commodities have been depressed. It had started to move up. My thinking was if we went into the weekend and got some, made some headway with China, then people would think better about their economy, that our economy and oil price would continue to move. I thought about buying one of the majors, but when I looked the yield on the XLE, which 3 1/2% of the time, I said, why not do that and diversify myself? So I'm there and I like the play to continue moving. I think I can get another 20% out of it or so.
- [50:39]
Eamon Javers
Okay. And the ITA, that's the ETF that it is hitting an all time high this morning. That's back to.066 straight weekly gain. That's the longest since last October. Jimmy, you've got Lockheed. What about this space?
- [50:53]
Scott Wapner
I think this is a space to be in. I will note that some of the aerospace companies are down perhaps on the idea that there's going to be peace in the Middle east, which I love. However, the order book for most of these companies is very strong. I think about Lockheed Martin in particular. I think about Whether it was six months ago, five months ago, that Elon Musk tweeted the F35 is a stupid. Whatever he described it, a stupid vehicle. Fact of the matter is it's the best airplane in the sky right now. The US is ordering plenty of it. So is international air forces. There's a great missile business at Lockheed Martin. I love the idea of peace, but you've got to prepare for war to keep that peace.
- [51:27]
Josh Brown
You know I own FTA in the space.
- [51:29]
Eamon Javers
Right. And you've been adding, you added to that recently, did you, you?
- [51:31]
Josh Brown
I did. And the CEO bought a bunch of stock, you know, a million or more of stock. And that stock, Jefferies has a target of about 200, I think get a good part of the way there. It's equipment leasing, engine leasing, and they just picked up two and a half billion dollar credit line which will drive those earnings. It's going to keep moving.
- [51:50]
Eamon Javers
Okay, we'll watch it. We'll do finals next. I'll see on the bell a little bit later. We'll track this market. Dan Greenhouse, Alex Catchelwitz is going to join us. There's so much tech news today and we'll sweep all of that up and get his expert analysis on it. Josh Brown, your final is what.
- [52:11]
Jim Cramer
Uber my biggest position. It is now the third best performing name in the S&P up 51% year to date. New record high right now looks incredible.
- [52:21]
Eamon Javers
All right, thank you, Farmer Jim.
- [52:23]
Scott Wapner
What do you got, Alphabet? I still think this is undervalued. I think too much of the competitive threat is priced in at this price.
- [52:29]
Eamon Javers
Okay.
- [52:29]
Fidelity Representative
Ames Santander also up about 60% year to date. Still trading at less than 8 times earnings.
- [52:35]
Eamon Javers
Okay, and that must be you with Leidos again.
- [52:37]
Josh Brown
Leidos. And here's the reason. Look, it's been pretty quiet with the government contractors, Booz Allen, etc. And at this point you got to believe that they're working something out with government and it's going to be better than expected.
- [52:49]
Eamon Javers
Thank you. See you on the belt. You've been listening to CNBC's Halftime Report, the President Podcast. You can always catch us live weekdays at 12 Eastern only on CNBC.
- [53:03]
Fidelity Representative
All opinions expressed by the Halftime Report participants are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBCUniversal, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, Internet or another medium. You should not treat any opinion expressed on this podcast as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of an opinion. Such opinions are based upon information the Halftime Report participants consider reliable. But neither CNBC nor its affiliates and or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. To view the full Halftime Report disclaimer, please visit cnbc.com halftimereportdisclaimer Our state has changed a lot in the last 140 years. We know because MultiCare has been here guided by a single making our communities healthier that comes from making courageous decisions, partnering with local communities to grow programs and services, and expanding healthcare access to those who need it most. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn more@mycare.org.